A to Z Challenge: My theme this year is NYC before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
JUGGLER: Just another Monday morning in Brooklyn last year:
JEOPARDIZE: Like yesterday’s isolation, jeopardize is another current buzz word. Everyone is in jeopardy of contracting Covid-19, which means, we would then have the very likely potential of jeopardizing others if we get it. Every day, we need to think about the essential workers who are jeopardizing their lives and the lives of their loved ones when they go to work each day. One way to make their lives easier, is to think about what we’re doing when we go to the grocery store, or any other outing.
A to Z Challenge: My theme this year is NYC before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ISLANDERS: We enjoy watching hockey and of course, being from Colorado, we love the Avalanche. However, tickets were always pricey and driving over an hour to Denver was always the pits. Fortunately, the Colorado Eagles, an immensely talented minor league team played games only 20 minutes from us at the Budweiser Event Center. With affordable tickets and a short drive, getting our live hockey fix was easy. Still, there’s nothing like the rambunctious cacophony of an NHL game, particularly, an Av’s game. Living a mere 10 minute walk from the Barclays Center, attending a hockey game is no sweat. I have to say, we were a little underwhelmed at the March 4, 2020 game. Compared to an Av’s game, this felt like watching golf. It could be because the Islanders were having a rough night against the Montreal Canadiens, eventually losing 6-2.
But before the final buzzer, things got exciting, just not in a good way. Islanders defenseman, Johnny Boychuk took a skate to the face. I happened to catch it when it occurred, but because it happened so fast, all I knew was that something hit his face. His hands immediately went to his face and he fell to the ice, legs kicking; he was in agony. Then suddenly, he hopped up, hands still to his face, and bolted off the ice and into, presumably, the locker room. The stadium was even quieter, and no one really knew what happened; no replays on the jumbo screen–nothing. I got on Twitter to see the replays.
Ouch.
Source: AP
If you have the stomach for it, you can see a slo-mo version. When you think of hockey injuries, you envision missing teeth, not missing eyeballs. Needless to say, an already mellow atmosphere, got even quieter. I couldn’t imagine his teammates having to continue playing after that. Fortunately, the skate just missed Boychuk’s eyeball, but his eyelid required 90 stitches! Left with some minor scarring (nothing new to a hockey player), he’s feeling damn lucky, even joking that at first, his phone’s facial recognition didn’t acknowledge him. Glad for the happy ending, but I still cringe when I think about it.
ISOLATION: Obviously, this is the newest buzzword. It’s scary and beautiful at the same time. When we traveled New Zealand in 2018, we found ourselves blissfully isolated on some of the planet’s most stunning landscapes. I would have no problem being isolated there right now. In fact, we hope to someday end up as permanent kiwis, but like a lot of plans, those dreams are on hold.
Isolation can also be very, very bad. If you’re looking for a captivating read where isolation is only one of many antagonists, check out The Ledge, by my friend, Jim Davidson who wrote about his experience on Mount Rainier. Jim is a climber who has scaled Everest and miraculously survived the 2015 earthquake during his first Everest attempt. Not the first time he cheated death, as you will read in his book.
Being isolated in NYC is a strange thing. Nothing like Jim’s experience, but it’s like static; busy and buzzing, but nothing is happening. You feel a little buzzy yourself, but with nowhere to go. However, if you have a computer or phone and WiFi, there’s plenty of ways to not feel so alone. I attended a Zoom lecture/meditation session with Yogacharya Dharmananda, whom I met in 2015 and studied under for a few years. He said not to take “social distancing” literally; physically, yes, but to reach out socially as much as possible. If you’re feeling isolated, check out Meetups you’re interested in because so many are now offering Zoom get togethers. For writers, check out Northern Colorado Writers, a writing organization (open to anyone anywhere) that is offering tons of online support through Slack and Zoom, so you can commiserate stay connected with fellow scribes. (As former director of NCW, I can vouch for its awesomeness; no bias at all.) Reach out to friends and family. Chances are, they’re feeling just as isolated and will love to hear your voice and/or see your mug. (Face paint not required, but highly recommended.)
Might I also present a case in favor of isolation. We often discount the restorative benefits of alone time, and in doing so, mistakenly link solo time with loneliness. Our busy lives tend to keep us from the important and valuable act of self-reflection. A grownup timeout has shown to create greater empathy, improved critical-thinking skills, and better decision making. I’ll talk more about this in Monday’s post, but until then, consider putting yourself in the corner and thinking about what you’ve done . . . or want to do . . . or will do . . . or just have a heart-to-heart with yourself.
A to Z Challenge: My theme this year is NYC before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
HIP HOP DANCE CLASS: Last fall, I decided to try something new: hip hop dance classes at Dancewave, a dance studio a block from my apartment. I was nervous, but it was labeled as a beginner class, and I figured I had a decent level of rhythm and that I’d be well on my way to being a Fly Girl within the first few lessons. I could not have been more wrong. I was horrible. A humbling experience to say the least. And hard. Several of the dozen or so participants floundered like me, but I felt like the worst one; arms flailing and legs performing a hybrid of Riverdance and a Barre workout. At one point, I struggled to get out of a squat and by the time I did, I was eight moves behind. Hip hop moves fast. As a middle-aged, Scandinavian white woman, I should not have been surprised by my lack of rhythm–it showed. Regardless, I had some fun. Then the holidays came, then the virus, and so my Fly Girl dreams are going to have to wait. Check out @von_b, the class instructor, who bless his heart, deserves a medal for his patience alone. Even Elaine was better than me.
HEADSPACE.COM: I’ve had an on-again-off-again relationship with mediation. Click HERE if you’d like to read a magazine article I published regarding the benefits of meditation. If there’s any time to be meditating, it’s now. I know it’s difficult to do, but like anything, it takes time, effort, and patience in order to reap the rewards. In conjunction with Governor Cuomo, otherwise known as Saint Andrew, Headspace is offering a free, special collection of meditation sessions for New Yorkers. How cool is that? So light some incense, slow down, and take a break from the incessant news cycle. If you need some convincing, check out these studies on the benefits of meditation. Now go ohm.
A to Z Challenge: My theme this year is NYC before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
GOWANUS: Gowanus, once known as South Brooklyn, is the neighborhood where I live. It saw the first settlement of Dutch farmers, who staked their claim along the 1.8-mile-long Gowanus Creek. British ships navigated the creek during the American Revolutionary War, the manufacturing industry turned it into the Gowanus Canal in the mid-1800s, and allegedly, the Mafia used it as a dumping ground. Pollution has made it a superfund, and thus, the Gowanus Monster was born.
(“Aqua Incognito” by street artist, Raul Ayala, in 2014)
Tales of its toxic waters has made it into novels and movies, but it wasn’t until 2014 when author Dave Kelly published an issue of his comic series called, “It Came from the Gowanus Canal,” that the legend of a grotesque Loch Ness emerged from the murky, contaminated sludge. The comic series publisher teamed up with the Gowanus Souvenir Shop (a fantastic shop, by the way) to create a fake movie poster, which also lead to a number of items such as postcards, hats, t-shirts, prints, etc. My time here wouldn’t be complete without some souvenirs of my own.
THE GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW: Yes, I’m slow to the party. Everyone has already binge-watched this charming, highly addictive baking show on Netflix, that pins kind and lovely amateur bakers against each other. It’s refreshing to see a reality show where the contestants are actually nice to one another, whereas, in the U.S., abhorrent behavior is a staple of American reality television (a.k.a. “I’m not here to make friends” entertainment).
I don’t bake often, and aside from bread, we rarely consume home-baked goods such as cakes, cookies, pies, etc. Unless I’m baking for a crowd–which isn’t happening these days–a half-eaten lemon bundt cake will start to resemble the Gowanus Canal lurking under the foil.
But dang it, I now have a hankering to bake and eat it all. Suddenly, I’m perusing old cookbooks and spending way too much time on Pinterest building my baking boards. When I cook dinner, I find myself with an inkling of anxiety as an imaginary clock ticks down, signaling I have little time left to assemble our veggie bowls. I’m taking the show in doses, and because I’m only on the second season (or collections, as they call them), I should be able to sparse the show out in a nice, even layer.
A to Z Challenge: My theme this year is NYC before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
FLUSHING MEADOWS CORONA PARK, FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT & FOREST HILLS STADIUM: Please excuse the long title, but it’s necessary. Last June, we ventured to Queens to take in a concert at Forest Hills Stadium and made a day of it by visiting the nearby Flushing Meadows Corona Park where we found the Unisphere and the Freedom of the Human Spirit sculpture. (You’ll also find the Fantasy Forest Amusement Park here for some family fun.)
Flushing Meadows Corona Park is a beautiful, 1,255-acre park in Queens that played host to two World’s Fairs (1939 and 1964). It wasn’t always so beautiful, having once been the dumping ground for coal ash in the early twentieth century. In The Great Gadsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald described it as a “valley of ashes.”
” . . . a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.”
It wasn’t pretty. Then, in the mid-1930s, Robert Moses swept in and converted it into a park. The Unisphere, a remnant of the 1964-65 World’s Fair (and a CGI prop in Men in Black), is really magnificent. Built to represent the fair’s theme of “Peace Through Understanding,” and celebrated the dawn of space exploration, it’s now a Queens landmark.
Also created for the ’64 World’s Fair, the Freedom of the Human Spirit bronze sculpture by Marshall Fredericks, depicts a male and a female nude with wild swans soaring skyward.
“I realized that great multitudes of people, of all ages, and from all walks of life would see this sculpture…I tried to design the work so that it was as free of the earth, as free in space as possible…the thought that we can free ourselves from earth, from the material forces which try to restrain and hamper us, is a happy, encouraging and inspiring one, and I sincerely hope that my work will convey this message.”
Marshall Fredericks
A short walk from the park is Forest Hills Stadium, built in 1923, and boasts a name-dropping history of performers: the Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Jimi Hendrix, Diana Ross, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Talking Heads, and The Who — just to name a few. It also hosted the U.S. Open for decades, but after the tennis tournament moved in ’78, the stadium fell into disrepair and sat empty and ugly until 2012 when it was revitalized. Since 2013, it’s once again a thriving concert venue. For now, it’s quiet again.
FACETIME: There’s so many f-words I could have gone with; one in particular whose root has spawned an impressive growth of f-blooms, but I think it just goes without saying. FaceTime with friends and family, however, has become a regular thing for us. I decided to liven up the visuals:
Yes, I’m that big of a dork. But this dork has cheered some folks up, so I’ll risk dorking up my reputation. I think we should make #FaceTimeFacePaint a thing, don’t you?
A to Z Challenge: My theme this year is NYC before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
EAST ESTUARY (RIVER): That’s right; the East River is actually an estuary (I couldn’t resist the triple E). The island of Manhattan lies between the Hudson River (also an estuary) on the west side, and the East River on the east side. What you see above is the southern tip of Manhattan and the beautiful Brooklyn Bridge, taken from the Brooklyn Bridge Park, just south of DUMBO–and only a 30-40 minute walk from our apartment.
While it’s cleaner than it has been in decades, the river’s pollution level deems it safe only for secondary contact such as boating. From sewage to bodies to diamonds, the East River contains it all, including a surprisingly diverse marine life (much of which comes with warnings to not consume–no surprise). Despite it’s sordid waters, many swimmers cough up (no pun intended) $2000-$3000 to take part in the 20 Bridges Swim each year. Nope.
The river has had its share of disasters including the 1904 sinking of a steamship that claimed over 1,000 lives, making it the deadliest NYC catastrophe until 9/11.
I hate to just rag on the East River, so here’s a fun story from last September where a paddle boarder came across a tomato plant growing out of a wooden pillar in the river.
Photo: Matthew Frey
EERINESS:Empty would also be appropriate. We rarely venture out unless we’re going to the grocery store, or maybe the occasional short walk to get the blood going.
The streets and sidewalks are quiet; an eeriness has settled over the city. Discarded rubber gloves have replaced coffee cup lids. Frankly, that’s about the only trash you see right now. We made a game out of it: if we spot two gloves of different colors mingling together, that’s a padiddle. A mask and a pair of gloves together is a triage. We haven’t spotted one of those yet. (It’s easy to run out of things to discuss on a long walk.)
Before leaving the apartment, I feel as though we’re preparing to walk out into Chernobyl. Once outside, it’s hard to not envision you’re in an episode of the The Walking Dead, feeling vulnerable, uncertain, and fearful.
But it’s necessary. And as eerie as it is, I’m glad to see very little people out and about. So let’s keep up the eeriness until we get through this.
A to Z Challenge: My theme this year is NYC before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
DIORAMAS: We all know them, but we don’t all love them. I wouldn’t say I love dioramas, but since childhood, I’ve been drawn to them. As a vegan, I should despise them, but dang it, I can’t quit these antiquated, taxidermy displays.
The quiet, dimly lit rooms with each scene illuminated like a vintage slide, captivate me. The background art alone are marvels in themselves, many dating back to the 1940s, that transport the viewer back thousands of years before we humans screwed things up. I get lost in the details depicted behind the bygone animals. The whole thing is a strange dichotomy: we’re seeing a dead animal “alive” in its habitat. That’s exactly why dioramas were created in the first place; to elicit an emotional connection between humans and nature.
These pre-virtual reality depictions of history are now being eyed with a bit more light these days. Many museums across the globe see these displays as dusty, outdated demonstrations that no longer serve their intended purpose, and are being removed. Others still see them as a vital part of our history that remind us of a world before climate change and the deterioration of many of our environments. In 2011, the American Museum of Natural History in NYC (where I took the above picture) spent $2.5 million to update and restore the dioramas.
Right now, there’s just something inviting about these peaceful depictions of eras not yet fraught by humans, that I’d like to sit with for a while.
If you share my fondness for these displays, the AMNH (and many museums around the country) have opened their virtual doors and are allowing visitors to peruse their exhibits online. Might I suggest starting with the Akeley Hall of African Mammals?
DIG ME OUT: Who doesn’t love slang? It’s a side of humanity that I . . . dig. And as a writer, I love slang even more. According to the Victorian Dictionary of Slang & Phrase, Dig me out was a society term meaning, call for me; stop me “from lazy loafing in the house.”
Alas, no one is coming to dig me out of this imposed ennui. The fact is, I’m very fortunate The Husband and I work from home, and with our son grown, we don’t have little ones to keep corralled and entertained.
Frankly, a lot of my time is spent worrying about my aforementioned offspring and my mother and stepfather back in Colorado. All of them, however, are staying indoors and taking every precaution to stay healthy. The rest of my time is spent writing, reading, listening to podcasts, watching TV., attending online webinars, and chatting with friends. To get the blood pumping, I’ve taken to going up and down the stairs at the end of the hall.
The Husband ordered a stationary bike that will hopefully arrive next week. My calves aren’t happy about this makeshift gym, and frankly, I’m terrified I’ll take a digger down this concrete death trap.
One of my favorite ways to fill time (and learn a thing or two) is to listen to podcasts. Allow me to help dig you out of boredom with these suggested podcasts:
A to Z Challenge: My theme this year is NYC before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
CONEY ISLAND: All quiet on the Coney Island front. I took this photo about a year ago and so I imagine this is about how it looks right now, too. (It may also be how it’ll look this summer.) Any other summer, however, the insanity level here is off the charts. Prime people-watching. Our 14-year-old niece from California visited last summer and no first-time NYC trip for a teenager is complete without getting overstimulated by Coney Island. We even rode the Cyclone; a second and final time for me.
Both times, I had my eyes mostly closed. Coney Island is on the shores of the Atlantic and because I don’t like water, seeing that much ocean from atop the rollercoaster (85 feet) would induce an impressive panic attack. Even with a metal bar “holding you in,” your butt still levitates off the seat. It’s terrifying. Your body gets yanked from side-to-side, up and down, at 60 mph in places, so I’m fine never doing that again.
A notable fact:From August 18-22, 1977, nineteen-year-old Richard Rodriguez rode the coaster for 104 consecutive hours–nearly 2,400 rides. He took short bathroom breaks between rides, eating hot dogs and M&Ms and drinking shakes during the ride itself.
I do enjoy walking the boardwalk between the amusement park and beach that leads to Brighton Beach, the Russian and Eastern European neighborhood, which I’ll tell you more about when I get to the letter “P.”
CUOMO: It’s during a crisis, you find who your leaders truly are. If you need some reassurance, or just need to hear an intelligible, articulate, compassionate voice (even if you’re not in NY) listen to New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo’s daily press conferences. No matter which side of the line your political views fall, I urge you to listen to his daily briefings. Plus, his exchanges with his journalist brother, Chris, are quite entertaining.
A text from my mom in Colorado:
As I said, it’s in times like these that leaders emerge. Search “leaders during a crisis” and you will see a variety of articles written just over the last several weeks about past instances of forged leadership, namely, Franklin D. Roosevelt (“New Deal”), Winston Churchill (WWII), and John F. Kennedy (Cuban missile crisis).
If you have two minutes (you do–I mean, come on) check out this less-than-two-minute clip of Governor Cuomo speaking about the resiliency of New York.
And at the end of the day, my friends, even if it is a long day, and this is a long day, love wins. Always. And it will win again through this virus.
